Doyle Bramhall, Bugs Henderson

Saturday, March 6,at the Granada Theater

Blues drummer/songwriter Doyle Bramhall has seemingly always had an affinity for great Texas blues guitarists.

Considering his childhood garage jam sessions with Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons, his high school band the Chessmen(who got to open for Hendrix on the Dallas stop of his '69 tour, and which featured Jimmie Vaughan on lead), or even his own son Doyle II, who is a frequent collaborator of Eric Clapton. His biggest impact, however, came with his work in The Nightcrawlers, which he formed with Stevie Ray Vaughan in his early 20s. Beyond co-writing nine songs with the younger Vaughan throughout his career—including "Dirty Pool" from SRV's solo debut, Texas Flood—he was often credited by Vaughan as being his primary vocal influence.

Although his three solo albums have been favorably received by critics, the fact that he has never been able to achieve the same level of commercial success as his many collaborators or protégés just might qualify him as the biggest unsung hero in Texas blues over the past 40 years. And while this shortage of acclaim never made Bramhall the household name that Stevie Ray Vaughan was, it did help him create some pretty monstrous Texas blues.